Since I have moved to Copeland, God has blessed me by allowing me to be part of a great Bible study group. One of the things that was addressed was the issue of surrender and we can be much more complete Christians if we give up our lives completely for God’s use. We are often so full of our own wants and ideas, that it’s pretty easy to mix up what God wants and what we want until it’s all very confusing.

Part of our Bible study included times when we would give prayer requests. Sometimes these were matters of everyday life and sometimes they had to do with us struggling to surrender different areas of our lives. One of the men in our group had just recently been chosen to be one of the pastors in his church. Obviously, with that came uncertainty. He was having some trouble believing that he was the right man for the job.

Various people spoke encouragement into his struggle and I couldn’t help admire him: not only for his honesty, but also for his humility. I also had to think that the very fact that he was so unsure that he was the right man for the job, proved that much more that he was qualified.

In my opinion, humble people are more qualified for those jobs, than people who are very confident in themselves. I am not saying that a certain measure of self confidence is not in order. It can be just as problematic to have a bunch of people around that don’t think they can do anything.

What I am saying, is that when a person is chosen to do something, and they have an overconfident attitude about the way things should be done, God has a much harder time putting His ideas in their heads because their heads are already so full of their own ideas.

When people like this are chosen for a leadership position, I think they make it difficult for God to use them powerfully, because they are less likely to depend on Him as much. These people are also more likely to take on responsibilities that are not their own. Also when someone wants to be selected for leadership, I think there is bigger propensity for being power hungry and abusing their leadership position, rather than being a servant.

I think it is rare to find a very strong and capable person that has also relinquished that strength and capability to God. It is said that Moses was the meekest man ever. It wasn’t because he was such a weak person and  had no choice, but to depend on God. It was because he was gifted and strong but he gave up those things and allowed God to work through Him.

The more we are able to do on our own, the less we think we have to depend on God. People that would be able to depend on their abilities, but instead depend on God are truly amazing.

Granted, people can do amazing things for God even when they are very confident in themselves and I am by no means making a blanket statement, saying that God never uses people powerfully when they are very confident in themselves. Moses is an example of that. I am, however, saying that I believe very strongly in the Biblical truth that God’s strength is made perfect in our weakness.

When we realize we need God, we depend on Him a lot more readily. We are more likely to do what he says because we aren’t depending on our own wisdom to get us by. In the Bible there are plenty of examples of God making his strength perfect in weakness: Gideon defeating the Midianites, Paul’s thorn in the flesh . . . the list could go on.

The time this truth became the most real to me was the night before I began teaching school. I knew school was going to happen tomorrow whether I was ready or not. I was scared. Scared of messing up and looking like an idiot, scared of what my more experienced colleagues might think of me, scared that I might do something wrong and mess up a students’ perception of what a Christian was. . . There were probably other things too.

I don’t think I ever felt so completely helpless. As I lay on my back on my bed staring at the darkness, I cried out to God, literally. I told Him how I felt. I told Him that I was scared of the uncertainty, the fact that I was scared I would mess up. I’m not sure what all I said but it felt good to bare my heart to Him. That made this idea so real to me and I was very glad that it was God running the show and not I.

Once I was done, I listened to Jon Foreman’s “Your Love Is Strong.” That song became very special to me that night. It was never so real to me as right then.

In the song it talks about us worrying and freaking out and the senselessness of it because God knows what we need. At the same time, I think God lets things happen to us that cause us to drop to our knees and that force us to depend on Him. I think it’s when we realize this, that we are best suited for His use.

God’s strong love is made perfect in our weakness. Here are the lyrics to the song.

Your Love Is Strong

by Jon Foreman

Heavenly Father
You always amaze me
Let your kingdom come
In my world and in my life
Give me the food I need
To live through the day
And forgive me as I forgive
The people that wronged me
Lead me far from temptation
Deliver me from the evil one

I look out the window
The birds are composing
Not a note is out of tune
Or out of place
I look at the meadow
And stare at the flowers
Better dressed than any girl
On her wedding day

So why do I worry?
Why do I freak out?
God knows what I need
You know what I need

Chorus (3x):
Your love is
Your love is
Your love is strong

The kingdom of the heavens
Is now advancing
Invade my heart
Invade this broken town
The kingdom of the heavens
Is buried treasure
Will you sell yourself
To buy the one you’ve found?

Two things you told me
That you are strong
And you love me
Yes, you love me

(Chorus 3x)

Our God in heaven
Hallowed be
Thy name above all names
Your kingdom come
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven
Give us today our daily bread
Forgive us wicked sinners
Lead us far away from our vices
And deliver us from these prisons

http://www.lyricstime.com/jon-foreman-your-love-is-strong-lyrics.html

It is in this state of us realizing our ignorance and God’s wisdom, that we are very ready and willing to do what God want us to do. If we are full or our own ideas, we often like to try those out and see if those work before we are ready to try God’s ideas. I think stuff would work better for us if we were willing to try God’s ideas the first time rather than waiting to try them after all of our “great” ideas have failed.

That doesn’t mean that everything we touch will turn to gold. In fact it can often mean the opposite. Following God can be very tough. What it does mean though is that we are agreeing with God, and in the big picture, there is no safer place to be.